CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett will return to the witness stand Tuesday at his trial in Chicago, where the former “Empire” actor called claims that he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself “100% false.”
Prosecutors will continue cross-examining the 39-year-old, who appeared calm through several hours of testimony Monday. He told jurors “there was no hoax” and that he was the victim of a hate crime in his downtown Chicago neighborhood.
Smollett, who faces charges that he lied to Chicago police about the January 2019 attack, sought to refute damaging testimony from two brothers last week. They said Smollett, who is gay and Black, orchestrated the hoax to get publicity, giving them $100 for supplies and instructing them to place a noose around his neck and yell homophobic slurs. They also said Smollett gave them a $3,500 check to carry it out.
Smollett said he wrote the $3,500 check to Abimbola Osundairo for nutrition and training advice. Asked by his defense attorney if he gave Osundairo payment for some kind of hoax, Smollett replied: “Never.”
Attorney Nenye Uche asked again if he planned a hoax.
“No,” Smollett said, “there was no hoax.”
Smollett told jurors he had just returned from a trip and was walking home after buying a sandwich around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2019, when someone yelled a racist, homophobic remark. Smollett said he turned around to confront the person, who he said towered over him.
Standing up in the Chicago courtroom, Smollett demonstrated how he...
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